| Three different forms of national decision-making or modes of internal sovereignty constitute the basis for the existence of various ideal types of referendum. Historical evidence (ancient Greece and Rome, France, Switzerland, the United States, Germany, and Hungary) and case law (the United States) suggest that political systems tend to vary between the three modes of internal sovereignty, which are an expression of the prevailing conception of identity between the ruler(s) and the ruled in a country. In a global computer-aided comparison showing that more than half of the constitutions of the world provide for referendum at the national level, two main forms of referendum could be extracted, the mandatory constitutional referendum and the so-called policy vote. At the same time, there exist a number of other forms of referendum. The referendum should thus not be understood as one monolithic method of national decision-making but as a general term consisting of a multitude of different forms of referendum which exist under varying constitutional conditions and behave in different ways. The various forms of referendum and of national decision-making seem to correlate in a systematical way with certain social background indicators. A matched-pair study of four countries (Denmark - Ireland and Sweden - Finland), illustrates the main forms of referendum as well as of national decision-making and points in the direction that the referendum does not undermine or threaten representative decision-making, but supplements it in various ways. The referendum is not necessarily detrimental to parliamentarism or parliamentary answerability, nor does the referendum violate the principle of separation of powers. Representative decision-making has been, it is, and it will be the most important mechanism of national decision-making. Policy votes, however, are highlighted for their potential of introducing dysfunctions in relation to political systems. A properly designed and used institution of referendum can enhance the legitimacy of a constitutional and political system. |
